Shards of the Exalted Dream: Acta Sancti

The Shard of the Modern Age

North by North-East

Team Sigma, with their new assignment to the North, flew to Crane Bay to rendezvous with Agent “The Stig” and Junior Agent John Scot, whose mentor leads the research on Essence-based maladies and a core understanding of what fell the agents of Team Sigma. En route to Lookshy, 2 passengers were attacked, 1 one whom was killed, by a mysterious “Mr. Chen” that disappeared shortly after the airplane landed. In truth, the flight was carrying high explosives planted by the assaulted passengers, the survivor a Haltan terrorist, a catastrophe averted by the team.

Good work, Team Sigma, and good luck on your upcoming mission. With the volatile relations between Meruvia and the U.E.S., communications will be minimal. For all intents and purposes, and as is tradition, you’re on your own.

The essence research facility headed by the U.E.S. on Mt. Meru was shut down out after Team Sigma reported its activities to SF0 Headquarters; the remaining clean up is up to the hazard control squads of the Meruvian government and the officials to keep the intrusion from sparking a cold war of sorts. The media will, as they are privy to, gather information concerning the activities and broadcast it to all who will listen. Agent “The Stig” remains missing on the slopes of Mt. Meru.

Team Sigma’s next mission involved confiscating a high level Artifact from the CEO of the Henderson Mining Co., an ancient piece of Magitech too dangerous to be kept in the hands of the private sector. While Agent Johnny Cage preoccupied Mr. Henderson at a charity ball, Agents Silver Raven & Prima infiltrated the building housing the Artifact. Despite an unexpected explosion (field investigators are still determining the cause) the felled the building, the Artifact was safely confiscated. An unknown individual, calling him “Army of One” met with the agents after the explosion, informing them to look for another individual known as “Ozymandias”; no current documentation exists for “Army of One”.

The name “Ozymandias”, as Agent Sylvia De Valle discovered, is restricted information of the highest level, tied to the synthesis of Exaltations (Alchemicals) and the making of Charm & Exalt IDs. “Ozymandias” disappeared from the ledgers of the government nearly 30 years prior, but an astrology reading a few months prior initiated a mission to Team Upsilon, the SF0’s top agents, to investigate a Dead Zone (similar to Mt. Meru) in the North. Due to unexplained maladies affecting those closest to the agents of Team Upsilon, a further investigation was warranted, and a new mission for Team Sigma was initiated.

A team of Exalts, the Chosen of Endings “Silver Raven”, the Night Caste “the Stig”, the Dawn Caste “Johnny Cage”, and the Starmetal Caste “Prima” have been assigned to investigate suspicious activity on Mt. Meru, the United Eastern States as the primary suspects. Upon exploration, the team discovered an Abyssal (name unknown) directing a research facility of the Dragon Lines running through Mt. Meru, one of the most volatile collections of churning Essence in Creation and outside the Wyld; the operation is part of a secret global initiative to, according the Abyssal, kill Gaia and replace her with an entity of “Dark Essence”. The facility remains on Mt. Meru, however, as Prima discovered during an impromptu tour lead by Cage that the facility is hooked into a very powerful demesnse, if the equipment were destroyed or otherwise removed incorrectly, it would cause destruction on a massive scale.